The Colonel's Forum

I passed a milestone in my life last week when I turned 30. I don't feel any older though, and the idea of being 30 doesn't really bother me. I think if I were really unhappy with my life, maybe things would be different, but overall my life is pretty good these days. Two of my friends also had 30th birthdays recently, and another friend is turning 30 this weekend. So really, 30 is no big deal to me. Ella and I visited my parents and went to Chicago last week. I don't miss Chicago anymore. There are plenty of things I still love about the city, and it's still a great town, but I am certain at this point that I would not like to move back there. I'd like to visit more often, but there's no way I would move back there. It's too expensive, too cold, and too cumbersome. Part of that is because I've become lazier over the years, to the point that I don't want to fight with traffic on the roads or at the airport. Sure, you get lots of direct flig...

while typing the girl's night post below, I heard: "Tom, I love you, and I mean that with no homosexuality involved, but I hate Ohio. ... Do you know where I am? ... I'm in Cincinnati Ohio [actually, the caller is in Hebron, KY, but I didn't want to interrupt]. They took my seat that I was confirmed on and bumped me to a later flight. ... Just one more reason to hate Cincinnati, as if the Reds and the Bengals wasn't enough. ... You gotta stop sending me down here. ... I know, I know, everyone at this airport is trying to get out of here too, and they're trying to get to Pittsburgh, you know, to God's country." Never assume that no one is around listening to your conversations. If I'm not listening in, Dick Cheney probably is.

When I returned home last Thursday I had the pleasure of witnessing girls' night at our house. Ella and some friends watch Gray's Anatomy every Thursday, and it was Ella's night to host. What an eye-opener this was. The intensity with which these 7 women watched a soap opera was unsettling. Of course they have favorite actors and characters in the show, but it goes much beyond that. They have theories about why certain events on the show took place, and other theories about what will happen next. They have favorite couples on the show and other cases where they hope guy A will hook up with girl B or C but definitely not girl D because she sucks. Oh yes, and all the while there is blood and guts all over this show. In this particular picture, some guy's carotid artery has just ruptured. Nothing goes with romance like spurting blood, that's what I've always said. The ladies at our house that night (and I imagine this is the case with most women who watch ...